An additional note on the song "Daisy Jane" - I've always been a big fan of Janet Jackson, and one of my favorites of hers is the ballad "Let's Wait Awhile" from 1986. I never realized until picking up the America CD that her and her co-conspirators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis basically pilfered parts of the melody from "Daisy Jane" for that song! In fact, Janet (Ms. Jackson if yo' nasty) must be a closet America fan, seeing as how she also sampled the riff from "Ventura Highway" for her own "Someone To Call My Lover" last year.


An Underrated band--an above average collection of songs   August 5, 2003
 25 out of 27 found this review helpful

I'm re-discovering a LOT of 70's bands lately and realizing that this decade produced an incredible amount of really good music (disco notwithstanding). America was definitely in the running as one of the high points of this era of music exploration. A truly exceptional collection by a really great group of musicians. Anyone doubt me? Check it out for yourselves. 'Sister Golden Hair' can hold its own today as well as it did almost 30 years ago. But let's not stop there, how 'bout 'Tin Man', 'Ventura Highway', 'A Horse With No Name', 'I Need You', 'You Can Do Magic', 'Lonely People' and MANY more. Not just good music, but GREAT music.

The ability to hold up well over the years is something that THIS particular generation of music listeners I believe will never truly understand because the bulk of songs produced over the past decade (or so) are almost all throw-away tunes. What is great today will be yesterdays fodder within a few weeks, and almost NONE of it sounds good after just a few spins. Will Britney Spears EVER stand up to 'Satisfaction' by the Stones? Does Eminem even have a prayer of selling millions of albums 30 YEARS after he stops making music like The Beatles? No feakin' WAY. However, America IS a band that can and DOES stand up well after several decades. IF you count yourself a fan of the 70's and you would count a life without disco as a GOOD thing, give America a chance and let them impress you for several more decades to come. An above average collection of songs by a truly underrated band.


Finally .....   August 26, 2001
 21 out of 22 found this review helpful

Well, for those of us that have been patiently waiting for a worthy single-disc of America, I think it's finally here. This includes everything from "History" plus more. I'm impressed with the sound quality, seems to be a step up from "History". This is a very comprehensive collection - the selections are well-chosen and I'm pleased to see that a decent amount of great songs were all put on a single disc instead of the 2-disc nonsense. Highly recommended for the casual fan and even for the hardcore fan that might not want to spend the money on the box set .... which I believe ultimately gives you a lot of stuff no one is interested in anyway (not so with EVERY box set, but a lot of them). An excellent buy and a collection that is very well-done.


A new classic   August 30, 2001
 18 out of 18 found this review helpful

An excellent compilation plus two brand new songs! It contains all their charted singles and some of their album classics that received a lot of airplay and were hits in their own rights! If you are a new or casual America fan, this is the CD to start with. It is the most complete single CD compilation available. And if you are a hardcore fan, you will have to buy this for the two new songs (and you know Rhino planned it that way). The sound quality and packaging are first class, but Rhino always seems to do everything first class. Highly recommended!!!